best setting

[Michael Duff]

how long is the AE composition?

is there any video in the composition? or all graphics?

what are you using the author the DVD? (ie DVD studio Pro/Encore or others)

do you have any other encoding software(ie squeeze, compressor, cleaner)

— answer these then we can give you a more specific answer

[Vincent Munoz]

i tried avi dv pal and it turned out good. i guess its ok. a combination of movieclips(.mov) and jpeg images.

about 2490 frames only. just for testing. will it matter when rendering longer composition?

you guys are fast, appreciate it.

thanks

vinz

[Kevin Camp]

generally, you will want to save compression for the last step (pretty much no matter what you are doing). i would render out to an uncompressed or lossless codec. let your dvd software (or other third party software designed to convert media) do the encoding to mpeg2. either will most likely do a better job.

you would definately prefer to not compress to an intermediate codec like dv and then recompress your dv to mpeg2.

i think the previous post asked how long the render was, because an uncompressed file is very large (1 frame = 1mb, not including audio).

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW

[Vincent Munoz]

guys thanks again, you’re all so responsive. I’m starting to love after effects after seeing a lot of helpful video tutorials. it’s amazing.

so what should be the way? compose all your scenes separately in after effects and put it together with another software? i’m new to this, i have to know i am in the right track. please bare with me.

what’s the best audio setting. i have a good audio coming from .mov movieclips but when i rendered, it’s kinda scratchy and has gaps

thanks again.

vinz

[Kevin Camp]

if you have an nle, you would normally render out clips in ae and edit them in the nle. you’ll much more easily be able to assemble and work with clips in an nle than in ae.

same with audio, you would normally lay your audio in the nle, you’ll have better controls and option for mixing.

there are still some workflow issues you will need to work out. you will want to make sure you convert your rgb ae renders to yuv or 601 color space when you import into you nle. additionally you’ll want to find an intermediate codec to be the go between from the nle and ae. usually, you’d like to stay lossless or uncompressed, but if you can’t afford the disk space, try a codec that is native to your nle. the trick is to try and avoid compressing and recompressing a clip as much as possible.

you’ll find many issues with different media standards, aspect ratios, frame rates and workflows as you progress, good luck.

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW